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'Collaborate to cut costs'

A private US foundation has responded to the "counterproductive" debate over
soaring university costs with a list of tangible ways to solve the
problem.

The Lumina Foundation, which works mainly in the area of increasing access to
higher education, suggests that neighbouring universities ought to collaborate
on purchasing to reduce costs. It also recommends increasing efforts to find
sources of revenue other than tuition fees.

Mr Dickeson said increased demand for higher education diminished capacity on
campuses and added that economic problems were "on a collision course" that
would push tuition fees even further out of reach.

The foundation's report says neighbouring universities can improve their
efficiency through joint-purchasing arrangements, sharing faculty and allowing
cross-registration. It encourages them to increase revenues from fundraising
and other non-student sources.

Universities should also allow easier transfers from lower-cost community
colleges, letting students spend their first two years there before finishing
at more expensive traditional universities.

The report suggests that universities work together to end the growing
competition to discount tuition fees for the most desirable students. By
charging varying fees, individual colleges have tried to encourage students to
take classes at unpopular times of day or to take extra courses to ensure they
graduate within four years.

State legislatures have frequently pressed universities to make more efficient
use of their facilities and improve graduation rates while recruiting more low-
income students. But tuition discounts have badly hurt some universities'
bottom lines, causing bond-rating agencies to issue warnings about them.

The report calls for more suggestions from experts and the general public on
how universities can control costs.

Mr Dickeson, who has also served as executive director of the Office of State
Planning and Budget of the Colorado Governor, urged that continuing discussions
about college costs should be more "civil".